Warner Brothers' Chamber of Secrets

Published: September 7, 2003

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One entertainment executive who has worked with them recalled a black-tie Hollywood event where the two were discussing politics with colleagues. When Mr. Horn walked away, the executive said, Mr. di Bonaventura rolled his eyes and said, ''This is the guy I have to work for.''

Mr. di Bonaventura declined to discuss his tenure at Warner, and Mr. Horn declined to disclose the details of Mr. di Bonaventura's departure. But in an interview last June, Mr. Horn said: ''Lorenzo was very experienced and talented. But there are lots of talented people here.''

SOON after he arrived, Mr. Horn embarked on a strategy to make about 25 movies a year, four or five of them big-budget event movies like those of the Potter series. About a third of the 25 would be financed solely by Warner. Another third would be financed with a partner, often Village Roadshow Pictures. The remaining would be rent-a-studio deals in which a production company would pay Warner a fee to market and distribute its movies.

''Terry Semel wasn't afraid to take the big shots, and Alan has more than embraced that philosophy in building his program,'' said Bruce Berman, who was president of production at Warner Brothers Pictures from 1984 to 1989 and now runs Village Roadshow.

But last year, an attempt to develop some big films stalled. In particular, the studio wanted to make a movie based on the Superman character that would be released as early as this year. But that project fell apart because executives could not come up with a reasonable budget, an actor and a script they liked.

That, Mr. Horn contends, was not a bad thing. He said the studio was more apt to send a script back for a rewrite or wait for the right actor. ''Our perspective is not a short-term one,'' Mr. Horn said. ''We are not driven by competition and what appears to be hot.''

Besides, Mr. Horn had other challenges at the time. Warner's sister company, Castle Rock, despite some successes, was coming off a string of box-office flops, including ''The Adventures of Pluto Nash,'' a much-maligned film with Eddie Murphy. Combined, those films lost more than $75 million, according to industry estimates.

That proved nettlesome on two counts for Mr. Horn. First, he had approved the movies. Second, he had to cut the overhead at his old company. After a review, he turned over duplicative functions, like the marketing of movies, to Warner Brothers.

''These were my friends,'' he said. ''But for me, without quantifying it, it was the right thing to do.''

In July 2002, Mr. di Bonaventura was promoted to the corporate position of executive vice president of worldwide motion pictures, still under Mr. Horn. But even that did not quell what appeared to be continuing discontent. While Mr. Horn has told colleagues that Mr. di Bonaventura's political wrangling had little impact on him, many people who dealt with Warner Brothers said it was beginning to affect the staff.

The next month, Mr. di Bonaventura, according to three people with knowledge of the incident, met in New York with Richard D. Parsons, the chief executive of AOL Time Warner, and Jeffrey Bewkes, the new chairman of the company's entertainment and network group, and discussed what was then described as philosophical differences with the way the studio was being run. In particular, he was critical of Castle Rock, two of these people said.

Mr. Horn heard about the meetings but had planned to seek Mr. di Bonaventura's departure before then, the two people said. When Mr. di Bonaventura returned to Los Angeles, Mr. Horn asked him to leave. Last December he became a producer at Paramount Pictures, but he still has projects at Warner.

With Mr. di Bonaventura gone, Mr. Horn began to work more closely with Jeff Robinov, a young executive who was promoted to president of production. Mr. Robinov, a former talent agent, is considered to be as much of a go-getter as Mr. di Bonaventura but is still untested as a studio executive. His candor is refreshing and rare in Hollywood.

Mr. Robinov says he spends as much as two hours a day with Mr. Horn in marketing and distribution meetings, planning budgets and discussing important projects. He has also developed a close relationship with Dawn Taubin, a Warner veteran and president of domestic marketing with whom he often talks on the telephone. ''Alan lets people run their groups,'' he said. ''But he's not distant. He knows what's going on.''

IN the case of Warren Lieberfarb, however, there was a limit to how much autonomy his bosses were willing to grant.

Mr. Lieberfarb, as the former president of Warner Home Video, was largely responsible for the explosion in AOL Time Warner's DVD business. He reported to Mr. Meyer, who was also a Warner veteran and a longtime friend. But like many employees, Mr. Lieberfarb was upset with the plunge in AOL Time Warner's stock and, with it, the value of his retirement savings. Specifically, he had opted to take his bonus in stock options versus cash, and he often complained to senior management about the effects of that, according to two people who know him.